SINCE taking over as head coach of the old Purefoods franchise in 2017, Chito Victolero has made the Magnolia Timplados Hotshots a consistent playoff performer.
But in all those years handling the team, Victolero could only reward the Hotshots a championship, which happened in the Governors' Cup of the 2018 season and lost in the championship round four times.
This new season gives Victolero and his troops another opportunity of taking a crack at the championship.
"Every conference, our goal is to win the championship," said Victolero. "Medyo kinakapos lang or kulang sa dulo. But we did great last season. We had a finals appearance and a quarterfinals stint. Of course, we want to go all the way and win a championship."
Victolero is confident that with a high-profile import in NBA veteran Glen Robinson III, the Hotshots could finally get over the hump and hoist the title after six years.
Sponsored content: A former NBA slam dunk champion, Robinson is the son of Glen Robinson, one of the best forwards ever to play in the big league, and much is expected on the second generation cager when the Hotshots relaunch their campaign in the 49th season.
"Hopefully, the experience of Glen will help us to go to the finals again," added Victolero. "That has always been our goal every conference and that's why we tried to improve in every spot, not just in the import, but also in positions we felt we need improvement."
Aside from Robinson, another player expected to make an impact for the Hotshots is incoming sophomore big man Zav Lucero, who was acquired by the team from NorthPort in exchange for Jio Jalalon and Abu Tratter. (RJ)
